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Through a ruling, the Constitutional Court said that popular consultations can no longer forbid or decide on the future of industry activities in the regions. Where do communities stand now?

Colombia is a member of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) and the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) participated in Board # 41 of this organization. The country introduced its representative for the EITI.

CEO Felipe Bayón spoke about the NOC’s plans in the Middle Magdalena (Santander); an area with great potential.

Several years ago, the people of Tauramena (Casanare) voted to prohibit oil activities in their region through a popular referendum. Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC) began a ‘judicial battle’ to reverse this decision and Colombian authorities have just made a decision on the case.

Better prices should translate into better royalties’ resources for producing regions, but there are other sectors pushing for the money. These and other stories in our periodic Royalties summary.

Colombia’s Central Bank (Banrep) released 2Q18 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) figures for the country. This decreased in the sector compared to same period last year but increased compared to 1Q18. Total FDI grew in Colombia.

Better prices bring better opportunities for the regions, or at least that is what Minister of Mines and Energy (MinMinas), Maria Fernanda Suarez, said when talking about Infrastructure for royalties.

President Duque promised to boost the growth of the extractive sector in the country, and he is about to complete 100 days in government. Representatives of the sector spoke about the actions to boost the industry during these first months.

A decision by the Constitutional Court on Mansarovar Energy’s action for the protection of its constitutional rights (“tutela”) had been widely anticipated. The hope was that it would clarify the issue of whether municipalities can block extractive industry activities. We now have the decision, but questions still remain on the practical implications of the ruling. The situation has been muddied by a State Council decision reaffirming the obligation of local governments to ask their citizens what they think about major issues. We asked Inés-Elvira Vesga and Leopoldo Olavarría of Norton Rose Fulbright for their interpretation of these apparently contradictory decisions. Below are their views:

Alberto Carrasquilla, Minister of Finance (MinHacienda), and Maria Fernanda Suarez, Minister of Mines and Energy (MinMinas), presented the draft royalties’ budget for the period 2019-2020 in the Congress, to kick-off the discussion of its approval. Oil contributions are key in this budget.